Easter Sunday

Well, today is Easter.  To us it is just another travel day on the water.  We are trying our best to get back home.  We left bright and early this morning in cold temperatures and light fog.  We traveled 65 miles today in 9.5 hours.  We passed through the John T. Meyer Lock without having to wait.We passed only one fishing boat, but lots of tows.  The marinas are few and far between in this area of the river.  So, we are anchored out tonight between two islands.  It's a wonderful anchorage.  It's between Slim Island and and Slim Island Towhead. It's not supposed to get below freezing tonight, but tomorrow night and the next night, it will be lots colder.  We plan on being at Nu Plaza tomorrow night hooked up to electric so we can stay warm. 

John was told by the owner of last night's marina that he has had 2 loopers heading south so far this year.  We are the first to head north.  Are we kooky?  Probably, but we are anxious to get there. 

Tonight we are grilling out on the aft deck.  We are having shrimp, sausage, corn on the cob, red potatoes, salad, and rolls.  (I'll let you know, Sally, how it turns out). Well, Happy Easter to everyone!  and Happy Birthday, Jonathan.

Another Gray Day

We left this morning early.  It was cool and foggy.  We called Barkley Lock before leaving the dock.  The lock master said he would get the chamber ready and to come on down.  So, we moseyed on toward the lock.  We had to wait 15 minutes and then locked through.  After that, we were cruising along at 10.5 mph through the remainder of Kentucky Lake, Barkley Lake and the Cumberland River.  The minute we hit the Ohio River, our speed dropped to 6.5 mph.  We locked through Smithland Lock with no wait.  John gave the boat more fuel and we were cruising at 7.5 mph.  We arrived at Golconda Marina shortly after 1:00 P.M.  This marina has new owners as of a month ago.  The man who owns it is really nice.  We stood and talked to him about business for a little more than an hour.  He wanted to know what we thought were important things for a marina to offer.  When we told him we had owned convenience stores, he wanted to pick John's brain.  If you can make a business do well because of your personality, then this guy will be just fine.

Along the way, we passed a place on the Kentucky shore that looked like a white tarp was laid on the edge of the water.  It turned out to be birds.  We thought they were ducks, but a couple of men at the marina say they are white pelicans.  I thought pelicans hung around the saltwater.  What do I know?  In the lock at Smithland, there were a whole bunch of seagulls.  Again, I thought they hung around the saltwater.  The men told me that they are here because there is so much shad in the water and they came to eat. 

Tomorrow we plan on cruising on.  Nu Plaza is the next harbor, but it is more than 100 river miles from here.  So, tomorrow night we will most likely have to anchor out.  I hope it doesn't get too cold.  Just in case we have no Internet service tomorrow,  "Happy Easter"  to you all.

 

 

 

Dark, Gray Day

Today was another travel day on the water.  We left bright and early this morning.  Just as we were preparing to leave, it started to rain.  We went anyway.  The rain was steady the entire time we cruised.  It was cold out like the past two days, but because of the rain, all of the isinglass was closed.  It made the temperature more comfortable, but doesn't do much for visibility.  Unless, you are short like me.  That means I got to drive almost the entire time today since I can see through the windshield without scrunching down and being miserable.  Not that I mind.  I like to drive the boat.  Another thing that was better today was there were very few fishermen or tows to slow down for.  You gotta like that. 

The minute we reached Green Turtle Bay, the rain quit and didn't start up again at all today.  We fueled up when we got here and then we were assigned our slip.  Everyone who works here was so friendly and helpful.  They even asked us if we wanted to go to a comedy act tonight.  Apparently, one of the boaters bought two tickets and couldn't use them.  We wanted to go, but we were both really tired and we were afraid that we would fall asleep during the show.  That would be embarrassing. 

So, we are hoping to move on tomorrow.  We should be able to start up the Ohio River.  Hopefully, the current won't be too strong against us. 

Paris Landing, here we come...

This morning began at 6:00 A.M. It was a cool 45 degrees and no fog upon leaving.  We drove the entire day from the flying bridge.  It was cold, but we were dressed for it.  Imagine my surprise when we saw a "lighthouse" along the way.  I took a picture of it.  Actually, it was part of a house that looked just like a lighthouse.  We also saw lots of fishermen.  The ranger told us that there is a big couples  fishing tournament going on.  It seemed strange that this was happening on a Thursday.  We had to slow down every couple of minutes.

After 68.7 miles, we arrived at Paris Landing.  The ranger came and picked us up to go to the lodge for dinner.  They had a buffet with pork chops and catfish on it.  Buffets always seem like a good idea, but we always eat too much.  So, now we are back on the boat with our bellies full and the day winding down.  Tomorrow is another day.  We are hoping to go to Green Turtle Bay tomorrow.  There is a 40% chance of rain tomorrow and a 50% chance on Friday.  Our fingers are crossed.

I am including a picture of the lighthouse and a picture of John with a beard (and our grandson playing with John's beard.)

FINALLY!

We left Aqua Yacht Harbor this morning at 7:30 A.M.  We made a brief stop at Grand Harbor for fuel, locked through Pickwick Lock and then it was smooth sailing.  The lock master said we are the first boat to head north this year.  I hope we didn't start too soon, but we are anxious to get home.  All of the towboat captains were really nice and just a bit gabby.  This is unusual.  Maybe because it's so early in the boating season and they aren't fed up with the boaters who are rude yet.

We put a call in to Perryville Marina and discovered that they are closed on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays.  However, the recorder mentioned another phone number.  So, we called and left a message.  Someone called me back and said we could dock there tonight.  It's $ .75 a foot with a Boat US discount.  I promised to slide a check under the door.  We arrived here at 4:00 P.M.  It was a long, cold day on the water.  John tried to drive from the lower helm because of the cold, but his good electronics are on the flying bridge.  We only saw two boats similar to ours out and about today.  There were, however, many fishing boats. 

We plan on leaving as soon as it is light enough tomorrow morning.  Hope it's at least as warm tomorrow as it was today.  Colder would be really uncomfortable.  WE ARE ONE DAY CLOSER TO BEING HOME1  YEA!!!!

New Plan

Well, the current plan is to leave here in the morning.  It's supposed to start out pretty cold, but warm up to 55 degrees.  We plan on leaving at 7:30 and stopping at Grand Harbor for fuel when they open in the morning.  We hope to make it to Perryville tomorrow.  Let's hope that the weather isn't too cold in the morning.

Still at Aqua Yacht Harbor

Last  night it stormed and the wind blew so hard that it blew off part of the roof cap on the dock.  It made a horrible racket.  Today it was cold and still very windy.  So, here we sit waiting.  What happened to all of that nice weather we were supposed to get?  Each day it seems the good weather gets pushed back further and further.  Tomorrow doesn't sound good either.  So, who knows when we will leave.

Still Waiting.......

It stormed all night and is still raining, just not as hard.  It's supposed to get really cold too.  So, here we sit, waiting.  John thinks maybe Tuesday we can leave.  I hope so.

Still Waiting........

We got up this morning expecting to untie our lines and cruise toward home.  However, the weather is not cooperating.  We are so disappointed.  We can't wait to get back.  The next few nights are supposed to be in the 20 degree area.  If we would not be able to make it to a marina where we could plug into electric, it would be way too cold, besides all the rain and the flooded river.  So, we wait.  Right now it looks like maybe Monday or Tuesday we could leave.  My fingers are crossed.

On the Road

Wow!  After spending a week in Texas with John's brother and sister-in-law, we went to Cincinnati for two weeks.  We got to see our children and grandchildren and spend some time with each of them.  We also had dinner at Dean and Debbie's house along with ten other of our Aurora dock mates.  It was great to see them all.  Especially, to see them all in one place.  Dinner was wonderful and the conversation was equally as good.  When that group gets together, there is never a shortage of conversation.  By the way, our daughter-in-law is feeling much better.  Thank you all for your concern.

After leaving Cincinnati on March 4th, we drove directly to Venice, Florida.  We visited with John's parents there for the better part of a week.  We played bridge, and went to the beach.  One day we went to N. Fort Myers and had a brief visit with Bob and Nancy, and then went to see Paul and Patty and even sang karaoke.  There was no swimming going on though because it was too cold.  However, it was not raining or snowing, so I am not complaining.  On Saturday, March 9th, we met up with Mike and Linda in Sarasota for a week of vacation.  We went to the pool once, read a lot in the sun, drove back to Venice to pick up an item of clothing we had forgotten, went out to lunch with Mom and Dad while we were there, made two visits to West Marine, shopped in St. Armand's Square a few times, had dinner with Claude and Yvette whom we met back in 2010 while doing the loop, and Norm came up to visit us.  From the time we left the boat to go to Texas, we have been having fun and socializing with friends and relatives.  It's been about six weeks, but we are back on the boat in Iuka, MS.  We have a few things to take care of on the boat, but we are hoping to be heading back toward Cincinnati by boat by the end of the week.